#kimestu no yaiba enmu | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

hazbinextgeneration · 11 months ago

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DemonBride Ch42 Hello! I'm Douma

Secondly, KISS POLE TIME!! But Douma won't be included sadly. Who should be next when the Hantengu bros. arrive? NOT ZOHAKUTEN AS HE IS A CHILD. Your choices are:

Sekido

Aizetsu

Urogi

Karaku

Warnings!!!: Douma IS his own warning. Possibly some innuendos.)

Your stomach sunk.

Your face drained and your purple eyes widened at the pretty pink bow perfectly still wrapped around the nice looking box of a matching color. Pink. The sight of it made your body freeze and stood before you to mock you as if to say 'here I am'. What was THAT doing back here?! You sent that back last week?!

"What the hell is that thing?," Gyutaro asked after an awkward moment of silence.

"I-Its a gift for L-Lady Y/n f-f-from his Lordship Douma, S-S-Sir. I-I-I was told to deliver these t-to her r-r-right away!"

Douma?! Again?! You thought you made it extremely clear to him that you WEREN'T interested!! Yet he had the gull to send it right back!?

Daki wiped at her face not bothering to get up from her brother's back however her face perked upon hearing a familiar name. "Douma?... What's he sending you?"

"Something I might not like." You deadpanned...but refrained from saying anything mean about the annoying situation in front of them. They respected Douma so you'd do the same out of respect for them. "Did he say anything when he told you to deliver it?"

"He-...H-He asked you re-read the letter that came with the package." He thrusted the box forward again and you saw the little envelope on top of it. The same envelope you also sent back.

It took all your will power to NOT just rip the stupid thing off the ribbon and rip it to shreds. Instead you plucked the thing off and with a scowl ripped the envelope open and pulled out a folded piece of paper. A letter? Unfolding it you let the envelope drop to the floor and opened it up to read the letter.

'My beautiful love,

How your eyes sparkle like the ocean not even the finest jewels would compare to that sweet smile.~ You pain my beating heart with absolutely nothing else in life compares to you.~ Gold crumbles to ash, silver rusts, and heaven and hell fight whether you should be a beautiful angel or devilish delight as earth trembles with each beautiful step you desire to take.~ If not for a moment stay with me my love. I've fallen in a neverending dream of a beautiful angel like you. Your heartbeat is the endless ocean under the sky. Your voice is the whisper of stars and your eyes the starlights.~ Innocent little rose of mine. Your heart's surely no match for my obsession for you.

But perhaps I can get a place in it to hold as you accept this token of my love and devotion.'

You stared at the paper. The siblings stared at you staring at the paper. The servant still stared at the floor. Silence rang out as you still stared at the paper silently.

You slowly inhaled. "....Are you a hundred percent sure this wasn't from Kyogai? Because he's the only one I know who'd write me this."

The servant still Looked down but shook his head no. "N-No. I'm certain. He a-asked himself to g-gift them to you."

You paused staring. "Douma's HERE?"

"Y-Yes...I-..Well no. N-Not at the moment. H-He went to t-take care of official business in Lord Kokushibo's place. H-He only stopped by briefly to m-m-make arrangements for his stay here A-And to request a few things delivered to you."

Your eyes widened again as a heavy boulder Filled your stomach and guts. Oh good gods. That's right. With both Muzan, his wife, AND Kokushibo gone away for important business someone had to take charge of everything in their absence. With Akaza away investigating for Kokushibo..that meant that...Douma being Upper Moon Two ...Would be the one person in charge of all demons and their Territories until one of them came back. Which meant that Douma would be head over everything here. CRAP!! You had a sinking feeling that this would only be the start to your problems.

"Kya! What did he bring you?! It's a new dress isn't it?!" Didn't help Daki now sounded excited staring at you from hugging her brother still.

"I don't know....Take it to my room. I'll take care of it later when I'm not so busy.'' The servant nodded his head before just tearing off from sight like a bat out of hell. No doubt scared spineless of Gyutaro's outbursts today. You merely closed the door.

"Huh? Why didn't you open the box? I would've."

"Because Im a bit busy right now." You turned back around and walked back to the siblings.

"Busy...doing what-" Gyutaro's voice died on his tongue as you just sat yourself back in his lap with a smile and leaned into him.

"Busy spending time with you and letting Daki take care of me." You were too tired to deal with Douma right now. You only met him once and he was already causing you a headache. But you'd wait until tomorrow to deal with that. For now you'd take Enmu's advice and try to relax. "Besides..your sister wanted to try to do my nails."

"You'll let me?!"

"Sure. Why not? I already tried so many things already might as well have you do my nails too."

"Finally! You'll love it! But first.." Gyutaro jumped back from his frozen state when his sister went back to manhandling his hair. "I'm straightening this mess out."

Gyutaro was glad for the gunk on his face, so that you didn't the red blush creasing along his face as he shakily hugged her form back into him.

By the time you managed to get into your room Rui was already there waiting for you sitting with a box in his arms. You wee lightly surprised to see him but considering how long you let Daki doll you up to make you feel better, you must've lost track of time. He must've just gotten back as he didn't look too angry you left him waiting but what surprised you was the box of food in his hands.

"Mother, you left me waiting for seventeen minutes. Where were you?" He spoke oddly calmly before tilting his head at your get up and pointing. "And why are you wearing makeup? What happened to the dress you had this morning?"

You blinked down at yourself all dressed up by Daki... before sighing. "It's a long story. Let's just say that I might've made some new friends. How was your first day of school?"

He shrugged again. "Boring. The children in my classes are all younger than me. It's annoying to hear all their screaming...but it was kind of nice to not be treated like an outcast."

"You've been nice to them haven't you?" Gods above. The headache you'd get if Rui started a fight with anyone.

"Father wouldn't be pleased if I did do that, so I didn't. Even if some of the children are annoyingly spoiled." He popped another one of those things from the box into his mouth.

"That's good at least." You were glad Akaza's presence was enough to impact Rui with some control over his emotions. But that still begged the question. "What are you eating?"

"I don't actually know." He took a moment to examine another one of the brown colored candies in his hand... before just popping it into his mouth. "Tastes good though."

"Don't talk with your mouth full, and you shouldn't be eating candy before bed. It'll make you sick." You gently took the box away from him giving a raised brow at it. "Where'd these even come from?"

"They were delivered with those other packages." You looked back to Rui who pointed at two other boxes. One a small brown box and the other that pink box you had moved here. Luckily Rui hadn't opened them. "Oh. Well don't open those. I'm still deciding on what to do with them all."

"More gifts?"

"Something like that." You didn't want to bother Rui with your own problem. "What did you do in school today?"

"Nothing really. All we did was do exams to test our smarts. It was actually quite dull."

You rose a brow. Exams to test their smarts? Wasn't that a bit overbearing? Oh well. You guessed it was a demon culture thing. However you still needed to deal with another bigger issue at hand which was figuring out how to go about dealing with Douma. Tomorrow was the best time to do that. Rui was again taken by a servant to school, and you didn't have any visitors so it was the perfect chance to sit down and really think about your strategies here. How were you going to deal with all of this? Akaza and Kyogai were reasonable enough. You were sure if you explained it to them then they'd be respectful of your decisions. Kaigaku was stubborn so that's going to be a bit more difficult considering he insisted in still courting you AFTER you told him the first time. You might have to ask Akaza for help with him. Enmu you also might have to have help with. Gyutaro and those Hantengu Brothers you weren't sure yet. Kokushibo you felt would understand. Your purple eyes glanced at the three new packages.

Douma....Douma was going to be the big problem for you.

He blatantly creeped you out and sent back the package and letter and a long with two other boxes. One was a pretty small brown box that looked about the size of your hands and the other new box was that box of strange candy Rui went ahead and opened up. Did he seriously not get the hint? You weren't interested! But he seemed as stubborn as Kaigaku, maybe even more so. It made your head ache. But Douma wasn't the only problem you faced.

How were you supposed to get out of here?!

You felt on edge all around here. Maybe it was because of the fact you had to keep your LITERAL family name secret or else all hell might break loose, or the looming feeling of annoyance but you were tired of it. There wasn't any exits you could see from the brief time you were out. Exploring by yourself was too suspicious and obvious and you'd get lost too easily. Running away was out of the question either. Even if there was an exit you wouldn't know where to look. You doubted even Akaza or Kyogai would help you escape. They seemed to want you around too much. Even if you did somehow manage to escape the Infinity Castle how far away could you go before they noticed you missing and dragged you right back here? There were far too many variables to consider and none of them were on your side too well. Your only hope was Rei as she seemed to be the only level headed one here that might be reasonable. But she wouldn't be back for months.

"UGH!!" You grabbed your head before falling back into the bed.

Not to mention the question of what would happen to Rui if you left. Would you be able to take him with you? Would be want to go with you? Would Akaza or anyone else even allow that? Would it be better if you just left him here? Would he be ok without you there? Would he be heartbroken? Would someone take care of him in your place? Would that caretaker even be kind to Rui?!

"My head hurts. I need to eat something and stop thinking about this for a while."

You needed to slow down and tackle one thing at a time. For now it was Douma but the problem was that you didn't know how to go about this....What if you just gave the boxes back in person? Your eyes perked up at the idea. Yeah. YEAH! THAT WASN'T A TOO BAD IDEA!! If you just gave them back to him in person and told him upfront then that would get your point across a lot better than it would just sending something back through the mail. However there was one problem.

Your eyes glanced over at the half eaten box of candies Rui ate. Douma might see the open box of chocolates as you accepting a gift from him. You learnt from Kaigaku that meant you accepted his affection for you whatever they may be which is the opposite of what you wanted. Even if Rui was the one to open it and not you...You should get a replacement for it! It might not be the same box he sent you but it should do in a pinch. Smiling you got up and quickly made for the box of chocolates. Scooping it up into your arms you turned on your heel and made for the door.

"Servant! Servant?!," You called out quickly pushing the door open.

In no time a servant was popped up in front of you smiling widely. "You called, Lady Y/n?"

"Yes." You held out the box to her as she blinked. "I need an exact same sized box of these."

She blinked. "Oh. Bon bons?"

Was that what they were called? "Whatever. I just need another box this EXACT size and amount." You pushed the box into her hands. "Do you think you can do it?"

She nodded. "Of course I can. I'll order you some right away, but it'll take a few days. They're foreigner sweets and can be a little hard to get."

"Just get me them. Another thing. Is Douma here?"

She seemed surprised by the question but answered. "No. Lord Douma is meeting with the secretary of agriculture to discuss placing an indoor farming community somewhere in the Infinity Castle. He was only here briefly two days ago to make arrangements for his room here. May I ask why you ask, Lady Y/n?"

No way we're you going to tell her the real reason. "I wanted to meet him is all." It was half the truth. You just didn't want her to know the real reason behind that. But you were sure going to fix this now. "I also need you to listen carefully." You pointed at her. "Tell no one I asked you to get these. As soon as they arrive I want them taken straight to Douma. I owe him them since my son accidentally ate his. No other reason." Last thing you needed was someone misunderstanding your intentions and spreading rumors.

The servant merely nodded before taking the half eaten box in her arms and leaving you there. Alright. New plan set in motion. Operation Return Stuff To Douma is a go. You only had to wait now until he was around for you to put that plan into motion. Which wouldn't take too long. For the next week it was quiet for you aside from Rui being taken too and from school and asking him about his days which only consisted of him saying 'boring lectures or exams'. Otherwise things seemed to be going fine for him. Enmu also showed up one day to do a quick check up on Rui whom was doing rather well thanks to Enmu's amazing medicine but he still had the occasional fever whenever he was with you.

"Oh yes. He's going to be just fine. In fact his immune system has gotten a bit better since the last time I looked him over." Enmu smiled moving away from Rui who scowled.

"Don't forget I have venom and you don't have a counter to it."

"Oh you'd be surprised at what I have at my disposal!" Enmu smiled widely at the child before turning to you. "And how have you been doing my darling begonia? I was told of your incident with Sakura from Daki. Are you in need of any...check ups?~"

"I'm perfectly fine. But I want to know when I'll be seeing Douma, Enmu. For a man who's interested in seeing me he sure doesn't show it very well."

The demon chuckled. "That I am unsure of myself. At the moment he's been very busy taking care of much of the work Master would do himself. It's a lot on his shoulders but if you wish I'll have a word with him about it for you."

You waved a hand at him. "No. I'll handle that myself. I'll just wait until he comes here..Have you figured out why my blood's smelling yet?"

"Honestly no. I have not. But there is a massive new development to your body I found!"

"What?"

"The last blood sample I took from you is still relatively fresh!"

You stared at him on a confused manor. "Alright. So you stored it well."

"You misunderstand what I say again.~ Your blood is aging slowly for a human. Y/n you're body is starting to age like a demon's would." His smile became even wider. "Your blood is no longer human. In fact it's completely demon."

"...What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that your body has completely shifted from being a human to you being a fully blooded demon! It's something I've never seen before! Fascinating isn't it?!~"

Oh gods above. You were going to be sick your stomach. But you didn't feel.. different? You still felt the exact same except annoyed a lot more nowadays. But you supposed being annoyed was better than being stressed even if you were tired of it all. But luck seemed to be on your side for once. Rui had the day off tomorrow which would mean you'd be able to spend time with him again, and sleep in. No getting up when he had to go to school and took some time to yourself for once. Just you, Rui, and sleeping in just like old times!!

...Fate just loved to toil with you didn't it?

A pair of pale feet got up early in the morning. On the prowl for something to do to entertain himself today. He'll convince his mother to take him somewhere outside today. Like a bookstore or toy store. He'd like that. It was dark but he could see perfectly well in the darkness after all. He could perfectly see the form of his mother sleeping soundly in the corner room which perked up his interest and began walking over towards her. Not even the candles were lit yet so she was probably still out like a rock-

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!!

Pale feet stopped. Green-red eyes turned to the door. Silence rang out.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!

More heavy knocking approached from the other side. After a small moment of the eyes looking between his sleeping mother and the door, pale feet walked over to the door as more loud knocks came from the other side. A pale hand grabbed the door. And the door slid open. ...His eyes blinked as the first thing he saw was tan colored pants. He slowly looked up seeing a red shirt with a black top.

Rainbow irises met the green pupils of the much smaller figure that blinked. A chuckle escaped the much taller man.

"Hel-"

SLAM!!

The door was slammed back shut in the tall blonde man's face. The woman in the bed snorted awake and blinked at the noise. The child blinked before opening the door again.

"-lo."

SLAM!!

The door was once again slammed back shut and ignored as the child just turned and walked back to the blinking woman who groaned and sat up from the noises.

"What in the heavens is going on?" You yawned a hand rubbing your temples having been startled awake from the noise. Your head turned as a tiny figure leaned over. "Rui? What's with all the noise?"

"Apologies. There was just an annoyance at the door. Are you up now? I want to go out today."

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!

Both your heads turned to the door as it knocked again loudly and Rui frowned.

"Rui, who's at the door?"

"That pervert."

...You groaned again ending with a sigh before tossing the blankets off of you and standing up onto tired legs. "Rui, I know you don't like Enmu but it's rude to not let him in. He probably has something important for us."

More medicine for Rui or maybe he found out why you smelt strangely to everyone. You walked right up to the door and grabbed it despite Rui asking you not too, and you pulled it open...and you blinked. The first thing you saw was a red shirt covering a very toned torso. You slowly looked up. Purple eyes met beautiful rainbow irises and a head of platinum blonde hair surrounded by a ring of red crowning his head. A wide smiling faced you as you frown. Casually a golden fan splayed in front of his beautiful face.

"... You're not Enmu."

"Ahahaha." You visibly and literally shuddered from that voice. It seemed so..empty. "No. I doubt I would be confused for someone who looks so different to me." He waved his other hand and you couldn't help but notice the sharp looking nails pointing out from his fingertips. Those looked sharp enough to cut metal. "We're you hoping to see him in my stead?"

"At this point-" Your eyes wearily looked at his hands. A deep feeling of needing to be wary filling you. "-Im not too sure."

The man laughed again. A deep rumbling laugh that sounded played out like someone who could laugh at anything without little effort. Funnier thing is that you weren't laughing at the situation. Not with the man towering over you before suddenly snapping his head back to you so fast and inhuman like you gasped and stepped back a few paces instinctively. He took a step inside and easily blocked out most of the light from the doorway.

"Forgive me for disturbing your sleep..." his smile got wider as his head tilted. "-but I did knock."

The looming figure blocked a lot of the light out from the doorway leaving you mostly in darkness and casting strange but eerie shade across his body. It made him look like a cat staring at a mouse in the shadows. Those eyes...They seemed to gleam at you. But they looked so..blank. It was so baffling you couldn't explain it. It was almost like...like....you were staring into the eyes of a porcelain doll almost. Rainbow seemed to glow in the dark pinpointed right at your face.

"...Who are you?"

"Oh! Forgive me. Our last meeting was so brief you must be confused by my being here." A fwap sound went off as the golden fan closed making you flinch again. As he just...smiled and waved at you. "Hello! I'm Douma! And I'm here to talk about your helpless pleas.~"

You must've still been in shellshock because you only managed to mumble out, "Douma?"

He nodded. "Yes. I'm so happy you know me now!"

Douma. Douma. Upper Moon Two Douma. The one who you wanted to see. Was standing over you this very moment.

And it scared you.

That same dreadful cold feeling you had when you first met Douma at the meeting returned. When he touched you his body was as cold as death, and you felt that same cold rubbing off his body and wafting over you in waves. Like a blizzards wind in a snow storm. The look he gave. The aura he gave off. It was more intimidating than anything you ever felt. The feeling was worse this time since you weren't surrounded by people you could rely on for help.

"W-Why are you here?" You hadn't meant to stutter. It was cold enough to make your teeth chatter and enough fear to make you feel like bolting.

"Oh. Didn't I just explain that? I heard you wanted to see me, so when I heard that I knew I just couldn't put it off anymore." A hand pressed against his forehead as he sighed in what you guessed was guilt but...there was no real feeling behind it. "I know I said Id court you but the thought of me neglecting you was too much to bare for my heart. How you must feel about it."

"..I didn't miss you."

The looming figure stopped and froze in his position of 'guilt'. Inhumanly he lowered his hand to look back down at you unblinking, although the smile was still there. His head tilted to the left,a curious action.

"I want to tell you something. Simple as that." He didn't move away. This man didn't even blink! You didn't even realize that your hands were shaking until you balled them into fists. Stand your ground Y/n. You wouldn't let anyone else push you. That's the promise you made to yourself . If Sanemi and every other demon couldn't make you back down then Douma couldn't either. "You need to s-stop."

"Stop. Stop?" He mused to himself the gold fan tapping his chin. "Now what exactly does need stopping?"

"To not beat around the bush, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I sent back everything you gave me on purpose." Straight to the point. Just say it. No more misunderstandings. No more tricks. No more anything. "I thought I made it perfectly clear I wasn't interested the first time we met and again when I returned them all to you." Just keep your voice calm and still. Anger might make him push back and fear might make him not take you seriously. "Mr. Douma. While it's...nice that you would show interest in me in that way...I do not see you in the same way. Not even potentially." You saw the way he reacted to Akaza's literal attacks on him. It was as disturbing as his aura was. "I would appreciate it if you don't show do those kinds of things in the future."

There was silence as he continued to stare at you. Stare at you with that dam smile of his. "Did you get the packages I sent you?" You gawked dumbly as he just casually looked around the dark room. "I did make sure you got them when I arrived here." He didn't even address anything you just said! He blatantly ignored you! He perked up however spotting the two boxes. "Oh there they are! Oh...But they look unopened still. Oh that hurts my feelings. I would've thought you would've opened it by now."

He moved right past you, making you shiver thou the cold touch his arm gave your shoulder as he made for the boxes. "I-...Did you just not hear anything I said?" You turned behind you unbelieving.

"Oh yes. Every word." He hummed picking up the smallest box and turning around. "Did you really not open these for days?"

"No! I had every intention of returning it to you. So I didn't touch them." You frowned more. "Mr. Douma, I just said I don't want those. Please take them back."

"Oh but you'll love them once you see what's inside!" He held out the box but you didn't take it.

"I'm not opening it."

"Then I will!" Before you could even stop him blue nails easily tore through the top of the box letting paper shredding fall to his feet. The same deadly hand reached inside only to pull out what looked like a comb, but attached to the very top of it was a rather large replica of a lotus blossom. "Beautiful isn't it?~ I thought this would be so fitting as it's the scent you give me." So you smell like lotus blossoms to Douma? The box was chucked aside as a hand extended it towards you. "Here. I know you didn't like my last courting gift, so I brought you a new one. Place it in your hair. You'd look ravishing in this.~"

You had to admit it was rather pretty. A golden comb was firmly attached to a beautiful replica of a lotus blooms. It was white with pink hues on the fake petals, a fake leaf or two sticking out from the bottom, and a diamond sat studden in the modd of all the petals. It was a pretty enough thing that could decorate anyone's hair, but you couldn't accept this. You didn't want it. Maybe in a different situation and from a different somebody you could've accepted but not this.

You stared at it then at him. "Thank you but I can't accept it."

"Oh there's the reluctance. That's why you refused in the first place. Poor Little Lotus. You must be so conflicted about all the riches being thrown at your feet when all you ever knew was the harsh hand of life." He smiled wider attempted to step towards you making you flinch. "Fear no longer. For your savior has welcomed you into his heart and-.."

He stopped. A hand grabbed the wrist held out towards her. The grip stronger than any human and an honest to Muzan demon hiss escaped her throat.

"...soul."

"I'm not accepting it not because Im 'conflicted'. I'm not accepting it because I don't want it! I don't want your money. I don't want your rank. I don't want your gifts." A hiss was given as her hand threw his arm away. "I. Don't. Want. You."

Douma stared. He blinked pulling his hand back and looking at it like he was confused legitimately. He twisted the wrist that was gripped as if seeing it gripped was unbelievable. He then looked at you finally. The smile gone and was a small line where his mouth should be. He only continued to stand there as you frowned firmly. Before poking him in chest.

"I'm not going to be accepting anything from you. I'm not going to be accepting any more affection from you. I'm not saying this to be rude," you clarified holding up a hand in an attempt to still be somewhat polite, "I get it maybe you didn't understand at first but I thought I made myself perfectly clear from the beginning. Mr. Douma, you aren't my type."

Douma was silent for a long, long moment. Before he hummed again. "Aren't your...type?" He hummed... before smiling again. "Well why didn't you say so? What is your type?"

You blinked taken aback. "Wha-...What do you mean 'what is your type'?"

"Exactly what I mean. What do you like? Strong and silent. Compassionate and shy. Tender and extrovert. I have experience with all who are journeying to their own eternal paradise." A hand tenderly pressed to his chest. "You will find I am a very considerate lover.~"

"Mother." A pale hand grabbed your hand making you jump and look at Rui. "Forget the pervert. I want to go out somewhere today. Take me."

....You nodded. "Right. I did promise someone else I would be there with them today. You can come along."

Douma hummed again tilted his head as you ushered Rui to the door glancing at him like he was a danger. "Are you not going to tell me what-"

"Douma." You stopped in the doorway back to him. "....'Douma' is not my type."

The demon again lost his smile and could only stare as she left pulling the boy with her disappearing into the hallway. Leaving him just ... staring at the doorway. A small feeling of confusion coming over him. Douma... specifically... wasn't her type? He moved following her form to the doorway and leaning out to find out where she was going. Only to just spot the tail end of the boy going around the corner. Away from him. Douma blinked... before glancing back to the comb in his hands.

"Interesting. ....A much more curious case than I thought."

***********************************************************************

He remembered when he first heard about this girl. This very strange woman here now.

It was snowing. Yes. Snowing in the mountains. It was when he would be expecting Enmu's yearly blood delivery to him. It's sort of silly really. He gathered most of the offered blood from his beloved followers and yet he couldn't have a drop of it until it was in the system and delivered back to him once all the lower subordinates had their fill. Oh well. He was generous. His not so well off underlings could have their fill first. However it wasn't long until he had heard the train coming from a mile away. Of course he knew it would arrive first because he had a much better sense of listening compared to humans and most other demons. He could heard the screech of metal against metal and puffing of the engine. Smell the ash and smoke of the chimney. He ordered his followers outside near the station to get ready to collect the crates of blood for him and his demon followers and servants. The metal beast blared out it's whistle and screeched to a bolt it did. Steam wheezing out knocking around the snowflakes around the followers as they worked to unload the beast and hurry back into the warmth of the buildings inside. Such dedicated little bees.

He himself was interested in seeing the delivery or more specifically the company that would be going along with it. Enmu was such a delight to be around! They could speak about so many things and he was never so rough like his best friend Akaza. Even if he couldn't stay for a long time, he could spend a little time with him. The other moons were so mean never spending time with him. But strangely enough the lower Moon wasn't inside the train. Was he perhaps merged with the metal menace?...Oh! There he was! Enmu was standing on top of the train looking down at everyone. Must've been such a nice view. He should join him! Which was exactly what he did. It was easy for him to jump onto the back and walk over until he was towering over the much smaller figure.

Wait. What was this?

Enmu wasn't reacting to his presence at all. In fact...he wasn't reacting to anything around him. He was breathing though. He stood stock still against everything. Eyes closed and chest breathing peacefully. Like he was sleeping almost. Then it hit him. Oh! He was in a call with someone else. That must've been why he was so still. That's ok. He could wait a bit. The cold didn't bother him so he stood there excitedly watching his face patiently until there was a hitch in Enmu's breath and his eyelids shifted. But what intrigued him most was the smug smile on his face.

"My, My. That's such a pleasant expression on your face. Now I wonder what you could possibly be thinking about to bring such happiness. Would you tell me?"

"Hm?" Teal eyes popped open and blinked at the sudden sight of a rather tall individual standing before him-..Er. Well that was half right. The newcomer was standing but he was leaned over and a face was shoved just a few inches away from his own face, which was why he blinked. But he wasn't surprised other than a few seconds, before he returned a smile of his own. "Oh...What a surprise to see you here?"

"Is it really a surprise?", the other voice asked in what could've been perceived as an amused tone before leaning back up to his towering height over himself.

"You were not with the others when I arrived, so I assumed you were distracted with something else at the moment. Hmhmhm. Although I wasn't complaining about the sight at all. It is amusing to just see their fragile skin turned blue from the cold snow. No natural protection against even the tiniest little frost.~ It's thrilling to try and guess how many of them will end up with frostbite or fevers!"

A chuckle came from the much taller demon and a small 'swoosh' of a golden fan made snowflakes fly as it was held up to it's owner's smiling face. "Oh. ..Already several of them do in fact. Traveling through the frost covered mountains just to reach my salvation! But rest assured, all will find paradise with my guidance. But they are dutiful little worker bees.~ Just look at them go!"

He hummed again. "Yes. I will give them that. I suspect they'll be finished within the hour. Good. You know Akaza would have my head if his share is delayed too much."

"My best friend has a way with feelings doesn't he? Oh! Speaking of divided shares-..."

"Your own personal stash is in the first car. Courtesy of the Master himself. Do be sure to collect it before I have to leave. I can't delay the deliveries. I must complete them and then move onto my newest and exciting task!"

The taller demon clapped his hands. "AH! How wonderfully generous of the Master! I'll be sure to send my most devote followers to handle it so no worries!"...Slowly multicolored eyes turned to him. A smile devoid of any true happiness. "But I couldn't help but overhear you just now, or am I mistaken you're being assigned something else than your normal chores?"

He shivered in glee laughing. "No. You indeed heard right. The Master has generously agreed to allow me to assist Kyogai in handling a poor defenseless human who had gotten hurt near his home.~"

"A human? My! The Master must've been very generous to give Kyogai a human of his very own." More excited clapping. "I'm sure he'll have as much fun with him as I do with mine!"

"You're mistaken. It's just a simple little human. Nothing special about her."

As soon as the word 'her' left his mouth, the taller one stopped any form of fake happiness and snapped his head back to him. "Really? My, my. I wasn't aware that Kyogai had taken a mate this year." The taller demon sighed. "It breaks my heart to know that I wasn't even invited to the wedding ceremony-"

"You are mistaken once again." The taller demon stopped yet again. Staring daggers down at the smaller demon. "The context I received from both of them didn't lead me to believe she was anything like that to him at all either. No. It just seems that Kyogai had the fortune of stumbling across such a pitiful creature.~ No more, no less."

"Oh. What a shame for the little flower. What ever will become of her?"

"I do not know myself now. I have yet to have a look at her, but when I do, I hope it's a marvelous sight!"

The taller one hummed with some level of interest. "How interesting.~ If he ever needs someone to take the poor soul off his hands, I'd be more than happy to welcome her into my Paradise.~ But for now...Should I go into detail about how one of my humans got frostbite?"

"Please do!"

"Well since you asked! It all started when I sent the hunting party to gather more game from the mountain. You see one had the idea of ice fishing, and I thought it was a great idea to have fish this cold season so I willed it so. Well I guess one of the men wasn't careful enough and ended up falling through the ice-"

And that was the last he'd heard or paid attention to that matter until he was summoned to meet his master in the middle of a sermon of his when a strum of a biwa string pulled him to meet his Master who seemed to be in a hurry.

"Upper Moon Three will arrive shortly to deliver you a refuge family from the mountains. If there is a young boy around the age of ten with red sclera amongst them you will deliver him to me immediately."

"Oh. Really? How wonderful!" Akaza-dono would be visiting him soon! How wonderful! He barely got to see his best friend outside of work or the occasional meetings! And he was bringing him visitors! What a surprise! He wondered if one of them was that human girl Enmu told him about. "Master, would one of those poor souls be the human Kyogai is helping?" There was an eerie feeling of knowing from his lord. "If she is unwell enough to survive on her own, I would happily take her in. After all, I am to help lost souls find their way."

".....I will consider it. In the meantime you have your orders. Follow them."

He ended up waking up on the floor later surrounded by people concerned about him and he played it off as the gods sharing a message to him that in a few days time more spirits would show up as gifts from the gods so they should prepare room for their new guests. Of course they believed him without question and he expectantly waited mostly outside in wait of his best friends arrival. Cold. It was Always rather cold this far up the mountain. Especially since it was still only February and summer months hadn't yet reached this far up the mountain. The snow was still very much here to stay for a little while longer, but it wasn't too much of a bother to him. Demons were never really affected all that much by the cold anyways unless they needed special conditions to live. But it also never bothered the powerful demon whom this domain belonged to.

Ah! Right on time.

There was Akaza now! Trudging towards his doors with what looked like a mother and her family in tow, the smallest of which was being carried by Akaza. Oh he was always such a good soul. His followers were all too eager to welcome them all and usher the family into the warmth of the paradise. Akaza was just exchanging a few words with one of his followers but his friends senses were as sharp as ever. He froze up as soon as he sensed his presence.

"Why Akaza-dono!" He happily chirped before cold hands clapped to show his happiness. "My, my. You seem stiff from the cold. Perhaps you should join us?~ My cooks have made a delicious bear stew."

Veins bunched up immediately. A fist tightened. And eyes widened in rage. "Don't. Touch. Me ."

"I haven't done such things. You seem to be oh so cranky today."

"I only become that way around you." His head turned. "Douma."

"Oh you remember me! It makes me so happy!"

"I'm leaving. You have what you need."

"Oh I know, but when I heard you were coming I knew I couldn't just let my best friend leave without saying hi! It'd be so rude on my person."

"I'm. Not. Staying," he repeated firmly.

"Boo. You never want to." He pouted. "You're so mean to me, Akaza!"

"Glad you know that. You reek of disappointment.''

BU-BUMP-

Oh?..What was that? The unusual noise came from in front of him and there wasn't any humans in front of him. Akaza's hand immediately shot up to clutch the place over his heart. The red nails embedding themselves into the skin almost harsh enough to draw blood. Oh?...Oh. Oh!! NOW THIS WAS A WONDERFUL SURPRISE!! And those teeny whispers of the new girls brought in were true after all.~ No gossip got passed him.

A loud gasp escaped the taller man next to him. "Akaza-dono was that your heart I heard just now!? So exciting! It sounds so lovely!"

"Fuck. Off. Douma."

BU-BUMP BU-BUMP BU-BUMP

AW!! Akaza-dono's heart beats were so cute!! He loved hearing it!

"Hmm. This wouldn't have something to do with that human girl who proposed to you would it?~"

The only sounds that could be heard was the wind and the thousands of small splats the snowflakes made against their skin.

"...How did you know that?"

He gave a smug smile. "I heard those little girls discussing it as my followers escorted them in. It seems they miss the stories she once read them as well. Hmm. A sweet little lotus.~"

"I'm. DONE. Here."

"Wha-" A blur ran past him "AKAZA-DONO!!" The blue disappeared in a wake of snowflakes. "...Oh foo. He is no mean to me, my best friend. If he had waited a little longer.." A smile appeared as a golden fan splayed in front of his face. "I would've told him I offered Master a place for her to stay here...And that he was very tempted by my offer.~"

However his Master never accepted his offer sadly and he was left to court her along with everyone else. Which was also it's own interesting experience after getting to the Infinity Castle and seeing her for the first time. He had to admit. She was VERY alluring to look at for a human. Her most striking feature was her face and those pretty violet eyes of hers. Admittedly hadn't quite seen anyone like her before but after learning the Master was gracious enough to engage all of them to her? Hmm. My, my, my. Now THIS was interesting. Being engaged to the same woman as his best friend was so thrilling! Perhaps this could even be a way to bring them both together! The thought of Akaza-dono and himself being husbands was quite amusing. Oh he had to meet this girl and learn how she stole his best friend's heart. Her flinches were so cute when she flinched as he touched her face. Such soft skin too.

"Well I must say...When I was called here I was expecting a slew of things~," he spoke in a low, cool voice that made her shiver. "-but I wasn't expecting that I would meet my future spouse.~" He felt that shiver and gave a wider smile, sliding his nails along her jawline until his cold knuckles pushed her head up further to face him. "Aw. Look at that. We haven't even spent our wedding night together and already you're shivering.~ I seem to have that effect on so many people.~"

THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.

Oh he felt Akaza's rage as he approached but he didn't care or made any attempts to stop him. It only made them become closer when they interacted. However he wasn't expecting her reaction.

"...Are you serious?," She asked deadpanned frowning. Her blunt words caught him off guard. "This is the first time we met and you insinuate your perverted fantasies of me in front of my child?!" A small smack sound sounded as her hand made contact with his knocking it away. "How dare you?! You perverted piece of glass!!" A finger harshly poked him in the chest making him blink down at where she poked him. "Someone ought to teach you a lesson!"

It was... strange. He hadn't had anyone react to him in that way before. No wait. Akaza has. So has Kaigaku and a few others. However it was quite surprising that a woman would act this way towards him....OH! HE GOT IT! Silly him. He was probably moving too fast for the poor dear. Woman want to be courted first before they discussed any wedding plans. How could he forget something so obvious?

"Oh I get it. You want to be courted first. After all, women love to be showered in affection and swooned." His eyes became half lidded. "I can't wait to-''

CRACK!!

He was oh so rudely interrupted by Akaza when the Upper Moon Three finally got near him. Akaza-dono could be so mean. Didn't he know they were supposed to share now? Ah. No matter. He'll learn later. However she still continued to surprise him. Not wanting to be outdone he presented a lovely little gift to his future beloved, of course he didn't have anything to gift on hand but why bring one when he could easily make one? A lovely little ice lotus that could rival the beauty of the real thing. It wouldn't melt unless he wanted it to so it'd be a safe gift to give on hand. However-

"I don't think we've been introduced.~ I'm Douma and my aren't you radiant.~ I'm so glad the Master gifted me such a delicate smelling lotus flower ~Anyways. I don't think I got your name Miss??"

"Y/n." She stated flatly, "And thank you for the compliments-"

"Ah thank nothing of it." He flashed a fanged grin at her. "I know how it can be sometimes meeting an Upper Moon and all that but it really is no big deal-"

"Oh you're right about that." He paused stopping, blinking wide eyed at her deadpanned face mouth agape in a smile as he processed what she had bluntly but politely stated. "You do seem REALLY nice and I really appreciate all the nice things you said to me but I'll have to stop you right there with the flirting. No offense to you of course, and I don't mean anything by it." She turned from him. "You just aren't my type. I'm sure you'll find a nice person soon tho with your looks and charms. So you might as well take back the ice."

....What?

No. Really. What had happened? He didn't quite understand what was going on. For once he was silence into being stunned while his brain tried to process the unfamiliar situation he found himself in. Why would she say such rude and blunt things to him? He was sure he was absolutely polite, and he gave a gift like everyone else. Maybe she didn't like the gift? An ice lotus maybe wasn't THE best courting gift but it was better than some of the other courting gifts she was gifted. Surely his lotus was better than the piece of blue rope Aizetsu gifted or the feather Urogi gave....OH. OF COURSE! He understood now. He just came on too strong in the beginning. She just wasn't used to all the attention she was getting. Poor thing was probably overwhelmed. He'd give her some space and send a proper gift to her later.

That...also did not go over as planned.

He was so excited to know he was chosen to be in charge of the Master's work. He was finally being recognized by everyone for his skills. It made him so happy. He even had help picking out the gift he sent her. He thought the pretty dress his head maid helped him pick out was perfect. He knew Daki would've liked it. So any girl would've right?

The frost from the rising water fogged everything in sight of the room. A mystic winter pool almost besides the fragrance of oils and the many colorful flower petals floating in the cold waters surface. A hum of content came from the powerful entity relaxing in the water leaned back against the wall of the water's bath and happily allowed himself to be pampered like a king. Delicate hands scratching his scalp further pushing the soap into those shining platinum blonde locks so many compliment him for as another pair of hand he so graciously let hold his hand that could easily crush iron into splinters working to gently file the beautiful blue nails adorning them.

Oh how he needed this. The woes of bringing others wishes come true and helping others find eternal peace took a toll on him so. He barely had the will to eat anymore-

"Another bon bon, Lord Founder?~"

"Oh I shouldn't. It's bad for my weary body...But since you asked.~"

A mouth full of fangs opened and a second later a delicious taste of chocolate and cream filled his maw. He had to admit a lot of these foreigner sweets were actually quite delicious. Perhaps he should try gifting these to Akaza? That might make a great break through through his tsundere attitude towards him. Akaza was such a hard ball. The thought of his friend punching chocolate and frowning at getting his arms all messy made him give a chuckle.

"What is Lord Founder thinking about today?~," a sweet woman's voice asked rubbing his shoulders making his sigh in content.

"Nothing to worry my dear followers assuredly. I must say my break before answering my god's call for assistance has me on edge some but it is nothing I cannot answer too." In actuality he was interested in taking over responsibility of the entire Infinity Castle dimension for a bit. He was never given that much responsibility before. Kokushibo and the Master always made Akaza do anything like that sighting him as too reckless but that was absurd. He was perfectly capable of doing such a thing and now that they had no choice...he grinned wider. "I think I'll gift all the high ranking spirits (ladies) flowers when I arrive. Something humble from our small place on earth to show my gratitude for their choice to pick me out of everyone."

"Oh that sounds wonderful, My Lord. You must be so excited for this. Your state of enlightenment will increase surely~," a different voice cooed at him.

He only chuckled before there was a series of knocks from outside the room and he hummed. Oh. Who could that be? "Whoever it is may enter. All are welcome here."

A moment later there was a slide of a door and footsteps approached. "Your lordship. A package has arrived for you from the Infinity Castle." A man's voice spoke.

"I do?" A face covered by a mud mask and cucumber slices turned to him with a smile. "Well, well. I wonder what it could be?" A secret admirer perhaps? A gift from a past lover? OOH! Maybe it's another offering from someone who wishes to seek his favor! "Who's the generous gift from?"

"Er...Well that's just it, My Lord. The package isn't for you," the man started unsure, "It's your own package."

.....A blue nailed hand was held up and the two ladies working through his hair and nails stooped instantly. A perfectly manicured hand removing one cucumber slices to peek a beautiful kaleidoscope of rainbow at the very, very, VERY nervous man bowing in his presence. Despite the coldness of the room the human man was sweating and gulped when his eye looked at him, before slowly trailing down, and stopping at the pink box wrapped perfectly by a pretty ribbon he held. HIS package. The one he had sent days ago. It made him hum with a blink losing his smile.

"Oh. Did she not end up liking it? I had at least ten ladies help me pick out the perfect dress based on her size."

The man was shaking at this point. Whether it was from the coldness of the room or from fear or both he was unsure. "I..N-No, my Lord. She sent it back without e-e-even opening it. S-S-She d-didnt...want it."

There was silence as shocked faces were shared around the room in gasps. And he ended up staring at the package, now noticing that it was in fact not opened from the moment he closed it and perfectly attached to it was the letter he sent along with it too, the wax seal unbroken. ...She had...rejected it? Hmm. Interesting. But why? Was it too small? Did he not decorate the box pretty enough?

"The nerve of the woman! Who would be so rude as to reject you, Founder?!", One woman rude scolded offended on his behalf and murmers of agreement followed.

He was...unsure of what to respond with at first. What could be going through her poor head?...Poor? POOR!! OF COURSE!! He smiled again. "Oh. The poor thing came from poverty. I totally forget that some people aren't as fortunate as us. How rude of me. Come now we shouldn't scold her. The poor dear must've thought it must've been a mistake not being used to such luxuries. We must be more understanding of her past and remember that we should try to show kindness."

"Oh...Yes. Of course. She must've mistaken your gesture. But she has been chosen by the gods to be your lover wasn't she? Shouldn't she be more accepting of her role?"

"It's only right to court her first. Hmm. I know." A blue hand pointed at the man who flinched. "Send her the package again and ask my head lady for the best gift to send along with it. I'm sure she'll be much more grateful for them when I visit."

And this would be very, very interesting to see. She rejected his advances huh? Hmm. That's a first. Usually he was the one rejecting others. Surely she'll be a hard one to convince but that was all in good fun-

"My Lord." The rainbow eyed turned back to the trembling man. "There was... something else that was sent back with your package although it a-arrived l-later than it. A.. second smaller box."

"Oh? What is it?"

"I am ... unsure. It only said to deliver it to you." From out from under the pretty pink package the man pulled out a smaller plain box and held it out to him.

Of course he accepted it happily to see what it was. He opened it. He looked inside...And blinked surprised at many reflections of himself blinking back. Reflecting off the pretty surface of an ice lotus blossom...One he...gifted...as a courting gift..to...He stared at it. He turned back to stare at the package unopened in the man's lap....His confused mind made him blink again.

"Anything else? Or perhaps a letter explaining all this?"

"No,Sir ."

"Oh...Well this IS going to be an interesting experience."

And he wasn't wrong about it in the least. When Enmu mentioned that she was interested in seeing him again, he was interested. She must've really liked the new gifts he sent her. He made extra certain to think about what ladies really liked and had a few more women give him advice for what he should send her. She was obviously unhappy and overwhelmed with such a new position that she must've misunderstood his intentions or thought he wasn't serious about it. One woman suggested that he send sweets and a new others expressed their liking for hairpins or pretty jewelry or dresses. Why not all three? Surely this would please her!

**********************************************"********************************

He ended up leaving the comb on top of the futon after curiously examining it for any imperfections but finding none. Perhaps this was a bad time? Yes. That must be it. She must've been cranky because he woke her up so early in the morning and took out her frustrations on him. Yes that explains it all. He'll come back later tomorrow when he was sure she wasn't asleep. That would be a better time. But...

"'Douma' is not my type."

He wasn't stupid. He knew what she meant by that. Maybe she really wasn't attracted to him...But why not? It wasn't as if he was terrible looking by demon or human standards. He had good hygiene. And he was quite an adaptive lover. Douma could be anything if that would make others happy. So how could she say Douma was not her type when Douma could mean many things? Perhaps she was intimidated by him? Did she not like blondes? Was his height too much? He needed more specifics. He was sure whatever it was he could win her over eventually. No. All women liked Douma. The ones who weren't married or Nakime that is.

"A strange case she is." The room was ridden with the fresh scent of lotus blossoms...He smiled. "No matter. They all come around in the end. This time will be no different. She'll see."

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